Power to the People

Happy Nelson Mandela Day! Today we celebrate the 100th birthday of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, our program's namesake. In these days after safely arriving back home in New Jersey, I’ve gone through a cycle of “post-South Africa-depression” - the process of storytelling to friends and family, wistful and nostalgic reminiscing and Sticky Fingers cheese fries withdrawal. Although having no idea where to formally start with my stories, I’ve recounted my experiences both verbally and through pictures and a vlog I had created, which was a compilation of video clips from each day on program. The trip has never left my mind since I got home; I find myself incorporating it into each day in some way. It seems to be that way with many of the other students, for the South Africa Squad group chat is still very much alive and well. In fact, some of us are on a group FaceTime as I write this!

While I agree that we should not live life through a lens, I personally value the importance of record-keeping. I find some sense of security through remembrance so I can guarantee my future self that I will be faithful to the truth of events. There is a sense of security when you know what you’ve become, but more importantly, how you’ve become it and the experiences that contributed to your enlightenment. Yes, reconstruction of such deep memories will never be perfect and complete; one will never be able to recreate a memory, regardless of how many pages are written. Through this post, however, I plan on cluing you all into my reflective thought processes as I take a second look at three specific pictures I’ve taken on the trip.

Not surprisingly, two of the three pictures I’ve selected are from a township. A township in South Africa does not quite fit under the definition of a township in the US. While townships in my state are typically suburban, like my hometown, a township in South Africa refers to often underdeveloped areas that were reserved for non-whites at the time of apartheid. This grouping was part of the segregation that went on during the apartheid era. Townships still include such disadvantaged communities, causing people to call it the post-apartheid apartheid, but townships can also be home to middle-class and higher-class citizens. South Africa is known to have the highest Gini coefficient, an index that measures economic disparity, in the world. It’s not uncommon to stand in the middle of a single street and see comfortable homes to your left and crumbling shacks to your right.

We had seen another township, Soweto, in our first few days during our stay in Johannesburg. We visited Kliptown, a “shanty-town” where we had performed our first impact project at their Youth Centre. That was our first look into South African underserved communities, and walking through these shacks on their dirt was an experience that would stick with me for the duration of the program. The discomfort and pity I felt was simply too potent.

This photo above was taken on a street in the township of Langa, just outside of Cape Town. We had gone on a walking tour of Langa on a rainy day after a delicious heartwarming lunch at Mzansi Restaurant. The drizzle turned to steady rain in seconds, a musty smell sinking in. The stray dogs roaming the quiet streets had gone to take cover. However, as much as possible, we stayed true to our walking tour. Our tour guide brought up a great point - if we had just done our tour on the bus, it would turn into a “poverty safari.” A little rain doesn’t hurt anyone.

As we walked through the town, the smell of streetside barbecue (braai) permeated the air. Scanning the scene, people had shawls covering their faces - as we were told, they wore them because of shame of socioeconomic status and reputation. Other people strolling the streets glanced at us and carried on, as if they were used to foreign tourists walking through their territory and observing their way of life like browsing through a zoo.

Eventually we had made stops into hostels, living spaces like the ones shown in the picture above. The owners of these homes were kind enough to let our group take a glimpse into the way they live on a daily basis - that kind of act would be unimaginable in the States. The first hostel we stepped into was an older model established in the mid-late 20th century; the musty scent of rain had followed us into the hostel by seeping through the cracks in the walls. A couple had taken all 16 of us into their bedroom, a cramped room that usually kept around eight people with laundry at all corners, two beds, and an antiquated television. It was definitely too close for comfort. They even invited as many of us as possible to take a seat on their own beds, a deed we were all hesitant to accept. Many families lived in the same hostel and shared the living space, so it certainly was not an ideal way to live. The next we hostel we visited was a newer model. One family had the hostel to themselves so it was more spacious, but the rooms were still very small and limited.

Although I did learn a lot just by walking through the township, there were many times of discomfort when I felt like an intruder. In reference to my poem, we were not invited, but they still welcomed us in as guests.

The photo above was taken in the township in nearby Guguletu on Steve Biko Street. I took this picture on the same day as the first picture - the rain had ceased, but the sun was setting to signal the end of our day. It was becoming brisk and cold outside, but this was the last stop of our township tour and a rather important one.

I believe this picture fits nicely with the theme of our program and embodies everything that we’ve stood for in our three weeks. We had learned in a previous biking tour that the gesture of making a fist in the air is a symbol of power - more specifically power to the people. In the Nguni languages like Xhosa and Zulu, the leader’s call is “Amandla” and the group’s response is “Awethu” to complete the resistance. It was used in the context of a rallying cry against apartheid policies and oppression. Understanding a community in its many facets and looking at a situation for the people involved and affected was an important skill that was emphasized while we performed service work. Therefore, I like to think that a major theme of our program was simply “People” - the culture of a people, people working together, and us working in solidarity with the community.

Especially in situations we saw during our tour, people will do anything to get by and live day to day, which I found quite admirable. Men and women and their children lined the streets with food carts and baskets of fruit. One of our previous stops on the tour was to Langa’s community arts center, Gugas’thebe, a Cape Town initiative to create a safe environment for people to make something positive out of their situation. It’s a great initiative that has children and adults alike involved in art and pottery (Our Workshop, check them out on Instagram @ourworkshopct!) and selling their art to the public. The artists have done commissions for people abroad - in the pottery room, I saw one woman creating the Rutgers University logo from clay - NJ’s state university only about twenty minutes away from my house. There’s even a newly constructed theatre to have people involved in singing and acting! Lining the halls of Gugas’thebe was a variety of art vendors selling their work. I found myself doing most of my gift shopping here because I knew my money would be going towards a good cause.

As i mentioned before, going on our first township tour in Soweto made me feel pity towards the people. As the program went on, I realized that pity isn’t the correct emotion to feel towards these scenarios - the people do not want us to feel pity for them, but they want us to be proud of their accomplishments. Pity has only been our natural response to these environments because as Americans, we come from a culture of power and privilege. As it stands, one US dollar is worth much more than one South African rand. I distinctly remember our teacher warning us at orientation about our service projects to come - “You’re not here to solve South Africa’s problems - if anything, you’re here to solve your own problems.” The “white savior complex” of Westerners have made us accustomed to giving things to people and believing that their doings will save the “starving children in Africa”, when in actuality, their contributions have made little impact. It is only the community who knows what is best for them, and ultimately, it is only they who can help themselves.

This photo was taken on the balcony of the lodge where we had breakfast on our overnight excursion at the Fairy Glen Game Reserve in Worcester, about an hour and a half from Cape Town. When I see this picture, I think of the fantastic and memorable conclusion to our program in terms of “family bonding” - it was like a family getaway. It was We had gone here to spend our last two days together, presenting our final projects and taking the opportunity to enjoy the unique flora and fauna of the Cape Floristic Region. It was during these two final days that I became aware of the connections built between all of us. It was at this point in time when I took the picture that realized that we were running out of time and the end would be here as we knew it - it was our last day in South Africa.

Upon arrival at Fairy Glen, we were welcomed by free-roaming zebras as we checked into our cottages. We had moved away from the hustle and bustle of the city into the openness of the mountains. After final project presentations, we proceeded to the mountain passes for a guided nature walk, surrounded by the abundance of fynbos and snowcaps. The cold brisk air put me in the perfect mood, knowing that the academic portion of our program was over. We came across turtles and flowing streams, but headed back at sunset before the nocturnal leopards wake from their sleep. It was some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve ever seen, and it fascinates me that that kind of ecosystem is unique to the Western Cape only. Not going to lie, the nature walk revived my interest in environmental science! That night was a night of special group bonding, beginning with a short piano jam session to Don’t Stop Believin’. We helped ourselves to grilled lamb chops, chicken and pap fresh off the braai and gathered around for s’mores - with pink marshmallows of course :) After our little campfire, with our curfew extended by an hour, we decided to make the most of it by hanging out. Our cottages have a rooftop balcony that gives a perfect view of the stars above. The sky was so clear, it was like you could see the entire galaxy. So, in my case, I had more than half of the group over on my cottage’s balcony just to hang out and eat chips and chocolate. Although cold, we huddled together in a circle and played a game of truth or dare to get to know each other more in our last few moments together.

The next morning, shortly after the above photo was taken, we had gone on a game drive/safari with our same tour guide. He showed us a variety of animals, beginning with the feeding of untamed elephants (“Without food, you are not friends”). We had a rhino charge at our car and we proceeded to see other animals, such as antelopes, zebras, lions and buffalo.

The poem I had written for my final project (in my previous post) already alludes to many of my reflections and experiences. However, to be honest, prior to departure, I had no idea what to expect on the program. The program title “Leadership Through Mandela’s Example” obviously let me know that we would be learning about Mandela’s life, but I was certain that there had to be more to it than that. Before leaving, people would ask me what I would be doing while in South Africa and I would have no idea how to respond because I had a loose understanding of South African dynamic and culture. After reading up on previous CIEE Cape Town blog posts, reading a past sample itinerary and visiting tourist websites, I surrendered myself to the ambiguity and braced myself for a surprise - pleasantly surprised I was.

The first leg of our trip in Johannesburg was mostly what I expected - learning about apartheid and Mandela’s life. However, that was only the precursor of what was to follow for the rest of the program. Our service projects were not very extensive, because it is not about how much of an impact you make, but rather the amount of difference you can make in someone’s day. I really enjoyed how diverse our service projects were - from having dancing parties with a church community and the homeless community, to playing with children in the children’s hospital, to painting benches at a boys home, to a beach clean up - because I believe diversifying experience is the only way to grasp an overall concept. Additionally, our Afrikaans classes and history classes really put our service work into perspective. It was a very well-rounded program where we were made aware of South Africa’s problems - saw it firsthand - and were prompted to think about how these problems come about and what we can do about problems in our own communities. Learning about power/privilege, open-mindedness and even good conversational techniques, it was basically a packaged deal for becoming a more enlightened individual. Besides feeling more independent exploring a new country without my parents, this new mindset and way of thinking was the way I most progressed as a person on the program.

Before, I was unsure if I had made the right choice of program. Being a person who is also interested in science, there were many other HSSA programs that I could have chosen that fulfilled my interests. As a German student taking AP German this coming year and an avid language enthusiast, I also could have chosen a language program. I was drawn to the Cape Town program to “change it up”, get out of my comfort zone and delve into a topic to which I had never given a thought in my life. Now, I don’t think I could imagine myself on any other program.

Being the small group of 14 we were, I found it very easy to form friendships with everyone in the group. I met people who shared some of my interests and aspirations, like music and science. I was even able to introduce one of them to bubble tea, the famous Taiwanese beverage that is a big aspect of my life back home! These people had such dynamic personalities that made the whole trip more enjoyable overall. However, I most enjoyed meeting these people because it was a gasp of fresh air for me, having lived in the same town for most of my life and growing up around the same people. This was really the first time I had spent with people from all over the country, nowhere near my own home, and that was something I really needed. As expected, the final goodbyes from the Global Institute and from Dulles Airport were emotional tear-filled. I’m glad to be a part of the CIEE Cape Town family, and being that we are all rising seniors and juniors and will be heading to college in a year or two, this definitely won’t be the last time we’re all together. With our group being the one and only Cape Town HSSA session, it makes us very special. We are CIEE Cape Town HSSA 2018.

Having spent three weeks in South Africa across two major cities, my impressions of the country have changed considerably. Before departing, I could not associate anything with South Africa other than apartheid and Nelson Mandela. My pre-departure impressions were also clouded by my own friends’ ideas of South Africa, who warned me “try not to get eaten by lions” before I left. In spite of all of this, I’ve seen much beauty in the country - not only natural beauty, but beauty within the people. Contrary to popular belief, there are indeed poverty-stricken areas, but there are also developed areas. Regardless, most of the people we have come across have had optimistic outlooks on life and that is something I strive to have as well. It seems my friends have many misconceptions about South Africa, so I suppose I should educate them :)

If I had to sum up the trip in one word, it would definitely have to be the one word that resonated with me throughout my stay - amandla.

Now that I’m home, I’ve taken it upon myself to independently further my language skills in Afrikaans and hopefully tackle Xhosa as well. Additionally, I intend on reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom. With many senior events, projects and fundraisers going on this school year, I hope to make the beneficiaries the organizations we’ve worked with on this program, like Kliptown Youth Program, Maitland Cottage and Beth Uriel. These organizations now have a special place in my heart and I hope to retain connections with them, even if we’re miles away across the ocean.

It’s been a enjoyable time and an honor being a Featured Blogger for such a wonderful program; no further words can do justice for what this program has done for me. What a journey it has been! The South African leg of my journey may be over, but I intend to continue on my journey of personal growth and exploring within the boundaries of different cultures - and hopefully learning to work across these demarcations. After all, life really is just one big adventure.

Baie dankie for those of you who decided to stick around and follow me on my adventures. Enjoy some of my other pictures from the trip in the gallery!